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White-winged dove mating calls of “Who Coos for You?” ringing out across the state have been like a siren’s song for Texas hunters eagerly awaiting the rapidly approaching opening day of dove season.

PHOTO BY RALPH WININGHAM/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS Thousands of white-winged doves, like these birds sailing into sunflower crops at the Nooner Ranch in Hondo, are among the very healthy population of birds reported this year in biologist surveys conducted by the state.

“What we have found on our call counts is that the number of breeding birds is very similar to last year, but the difference is that with the wet spring, we are anticipating much better reproduction,” said Corey Mason, program leader for doves and cranes with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. “The birds are in better shape and will be able to find forage more readily because of the recent rainfall.”

Based on surveys conducted throughout the state by TP&W biologists who listen for mating calls and count birds across 133 survey tracts, officials estimate this year’s white-winged dove population at about 8 million and the mourning dove population at about 40 million.

Mason said the numbers are up slightly for white-wings and about stable for mourning doves. “We are fortunate in that just about the whole state is good dove habitat,” he said.

“We are anticipating hunters will be seeing good numbers of birds in traditional areas. In the first couple weeks of the season, about 80 percent of the doves harvested by hunters are Texas birds.”

The latest figures from TP&W show that about 300,000 dove hunters in Texas harvest about 6 million birds each year — about 30 percent of all doves taken in the United States — and dove hunting annually contributes more than $300 million to the state economy.

Local outfitters are echoing the favorable hunting predictions of state biologists, with some anticipating one of the best years in recent memory as the area pulls out of the grips of a two-year drought.

“Last year, there just were not many birds and we were not anticipating even being able to have hunters out this year,” said Christina Roberson, who manages hunting leases on about 200 acres in western Bexar County.

“But after the rains we received this spring, we are just crazy with birds out here. We are seeing a few mourning doves, but most of the birds are white-wings with a quite a few Eurasian (ring-necked) doves in the mix. The corn crop out here has been really good, and the fields across the highway are full of native sunflowers.”

In the Hondo area, Sammy Nooner of the Nooner Ranch said he is seeing a lot of carryover from last year and said he is expecting good migrations of birds from up north as the season progresses.

“A lot of the birds that are here now will be moving out before the season starts. It seems like they start moving earlier every year,” said Nooner, who has been conducting hunts on property throughout the Medina County area for more than 10 years.

“At the same time, we will have a lot of birds migrating in as long as we have food available for them. Last year it was too wet to plow and we had birds in our fields as late as in January, February and March. One morning it was 13 degrees and we had some great hunting. It is not the cold or rainfall that moves the birds out. They leave when they don’t have anything to eat.”

The outfitter pointed out that while the area received abundant rainfall during the fall and spring, there were no bad storms that could damage or destroy any nests.

“When storms do not wipe out the nests, that really helps the carryover,” Nooner said. “We are really anticipating a very good year.”

In order to continue to closely monitor the bird population, TP&W biologists are urging hunters to be on the watch for banded birds and to report any bands that they find on doves going into their game bags.

“Last year we had 735 white-winged doves and 177 mourning doves that had been banded (some from other states) and were recovered in Texas,” Mason said. “That provides us a wealth of information about the birds.”

While the majority of the banded birds were from Texas, there were 21 from Kansas; 18 from Oklahoma; 14 from Iowa, nine from South Dakota; and others from Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wyoming.

“One of the white-winged doves was banded in 2004,” said Mason, explaining that the normal life span of a dove is about 18 months, but the birds can survive for many years under the right conditions.

Hunters are being asked to report leg bands recovered on harvested birds by calling (800) 327-BAND (2263) or by visiting the website reportband.gov.

Dove data bank

North and Central Zones: Generally north of Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 90, open? Sept. 1. Season will continue through Oct. 24 and reopen Dec. 25 through Jan. 9 as a winter-hunting opportunity.

Daily bag limit: 15 birds, not including more than two white-tipped doves

More info

For local dove hunting opportunities, contact Christina Roberson at (830) 741-8614 or Sammy Nooner at noonerranch.com.

Hunters are reminded that in addition to a valid Texas hunting license, certification in the Harvest Information Program (HIP) is required and may be obtained by responding to a few questions when purchasing a license.

More on licenses and seasons available at tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild.

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News and information on hunting, archery and fishing in South and Central Texas. Boating, lake level and river level information provided for Braunig Lake, Lake Calaveras, Canyon Lake, Medina Lake and others. Whitetail deer and turkey season information and tips.